It’s been a bit of a lazy November so far.  Mia told me that Codi wanted to do a longer hike this weekend since it had been awhile since we had taken him out.  We settled on Ft. Stevens out near Astoria, OR.  The weather forecast was cool, clear and sunny with some winds.  We debated about heading to the mountains in either Washington or Oregon, but we also hadn’t really been to the coast since my mountain bike race in Newport at the start of the summer.

I suggested Ft. Stevens because I wanted to check out a few things there like the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale and the hike option I found was going to be about 10 miles long with minimal elevation (it is the coast).  Mia was game and CB was pumped to go on another adventure.  Plus, we still get to act like tourists in Oregon since we’ve only been here 2.5 years now.

The hike itself was mostly on the paved paths around the park. with just a little bit trail around Coffenbury Lake and playing on the beach near the shipwreck.

It was quite the wildlife day too.  We saw a bald eagle, golden eagle, lots of elk poop (but no elk), and even a bobcat darting across the road as we headed home.  Also dinner at Rogue Brewery in Astoria afterwards. It all added up to a pretty kick ass day.

From the Pacific to Coffenbury Lake (a freshwater lake) it’s was less than a mile jaunt.  Here we had lunch, let Codi play in the water and saw the best “warning sign” I have ever seen for swimmers.

I poked around the main artillery bunkers a bit after we got back to the car.  It’s pretty cool and a bit sobering at the same time to think of the firepower that used to sit here.  I learned that the 155mm shells weighed 95lbs and could be shot just over 9.5 miles.  It would have been interesting to see what the fort looked like in all it’s glory.

So on the way back to Hillsboro we skipped taking route 26 and followed 202 to 47.  I wanted to see how viable 202 is as a bike route to Astoria.  After driving it, it definitely seems like the way to go.  Also drove by the Jewell Meadows and plan to make a trip back there this winter.  Click on the link to find out why….

all the pics here

So, that’s about it for now.

Thanks for reading,

-Pete